Behavioural and neurobiological consequences of macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene deletion in mice.

Evidence from clinical studies and animal models show that inflammation can lead to the development of depression. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an important multifunctional cytokine that is synthesized by several cell types in the brain. MIF can increase production of other cytokines, activates cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and can counter-regulate anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids. Increased plasma levels of MIF are associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation and depressive symptoms in patients. In contrast, MIF knockout (KO) mice have been found to exhibit increased depressive-like behaviour. The exact role for MIF in depression is therefore still controversial. To further understand the role of MIF in depression, we studied depressive-like behaviour in congenic male and female MIF KO mice and wild-type (WT) littermates and the associated neurobiological mechanisms underlying the behavioural outcome

The CD44 ligand hyaluronic acid is elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid of suicide attempters and is associated with increased blood-brain barrier permeability.

The glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid (HA) is an important component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the brain. CD44 is a cell adhesion molecule that binds to HA in the ECM and is present on astrocytes, microglia and certain neurons. Cell adhesion molecules have been reported to be involved in anxiety and mood disorders. CD44 levels are decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of depressed individuals, and the CD44 gene has been identified in brain GWAS studies as a possible risk gene for suicidal behavior

Exendin-4 Treatment Improves LPS-Induced Depressive-Like Behavior Without Affecting ProInflammatory Cytokines

Background: Exendin-4 is a peptide agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor, currently in clinical trials as a potential disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's disease. In light of this, it is important to understand potential modes of action of exendin-4 in the brain. Exendin-4 is neuroprotective and has been proposed to be directly anti-inflammatory, and that this is one way it reduces neurodegeneration. However, prior studies have focused on animal models involving both neurodegeneration and inflammation, therefore, it is also possible that the observed decreased inflammation is secondary to reduced neurodegeneration. Objective: To investigate whether exendin-4 directly reduces inflammation in the brain following an insult that involves neuroinflammation but not neurodegeneration, namely systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: Rats were administered LPS systemically and were treated with either 0.5 mu g/kg exendin-4 or saline vehicle injections over 5 days. Behavior was evaluated with forced swim test. We assayed TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta levels in cerebrospinal fluid and cytokine mRNA expression in striatal, hippocampal and cortical tissues using qPCR. We determined brain monoamines using high-performance liquid chromatography. Finally, we isolated primary brain microglia from rats and measured cytokine production after exendin-4 treatment and LPS stimulation. Results: Exendin-4 treatment did not affect cytokine mRNA expression in brain, cytokine levels in cerebrospinal fluid or cytokine production from cultured microglia, although there was a trend towards increased striatal dopamine. Importantly, exendin-4 significantly prevented depressive-like behavior at 24 hours after LPS injection, indicating that the drug engaged a target in the brain. Depressive-like behavior was associated with altered dopamine turnover in the striatum. Conclusion: We did not detect any anti-inflammatory effects of exendin-4. In previous studies exploring the effects of exendin-4 on brain insults involving neurodegeneration, observations of reduced inflammation might have been secondary to mitigation of neuronal death. Our results indicate that the effects of exendin-4 on behavior may be due to effects on dopamine synthesis or metabolism